Thousands in limbo around the world as vessels seek a port at which to dock
As countries scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of cruise ship passengers are stranded on the high seas while their vessels seek a port at which to dock.
The Norwegian Jewel, sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, has been refused permission to dock in French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and is piloting to American Samoa to refuel.
Continue reading...Six-week state of emergency is lifted after disease killed 81 people and sickened more than 5,600 others
Samoa has lifted a six-week state of emergency after the infection rate from a measles outbreak that has swept the country started to come under control.
The South Pacific nation has been gripped by the highly infectious disease, which has killed 81 people, most of them babies and young children, and sickened more than 5,600 others.
Continue reading...The unprecedented health crisis has claimed 72 lives, mostly children. Now questions are being asked about how it came to this
“Every time I visit my baby, I see a morgue full of dead babies,” says a mother sitting at Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital in Apia, the capital of Samoa.
The woman’s one-year-old died in the measles outbreak that has wracked the Pacific nation over the past two months. She now comes to the morgue day after day, awaiting the release of her child’s body.
Continue reading...Nation lifts two-day curfew amid rise in mandatory vaccinations and arrest of ‘anti-vaxxer’
Samoa has said nearly 90% of eligible people have been vaccinated against measles as it lifted a two-day curfew imposed amid an outbreak that has killed 65 in recent weeks.
There were, however, 103 new cases of measles reported since Friday, Samoa’s health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Continue reading...In six weeks, a measles outbreak has infected 3,000 people out of a population of 200,000, killing 42, mostly children
Fa’aoso Tuivale sleeps on her children’s grave during the day, when she misses them most.
She and her husband, Tuivale Luamanuvae Puelua, are sitting on the newly-dried concrete that mark the graves of their three-year-old Itila and 13-month-old twins, Tamara and Sale, talking about the week that has passed since they buried them.
Continue reading...Children under five account for all but one of deaths as 1,644 suspected cases are identified
Deaths related to measles, mostly among small children, have more than tripled to 20 in the past week on the Pacific island of Samoa, the government has said, eight days after declaring a state of emergency over the outbreak.
The island state of 200,000, located south of the equator and half way between Hawaii and New Zealand, declared a measles epidemic late in October after the first deaths.
Continue reading...At least six deaths have been linked to the outbreak, in a nation where vaccination rates are alarmingly low
Samoa has closed all schools and cracked down on public gatherings as it enters a state of emergency over the deadly measles outbreak spreading across the Pacific islands.
The island state of just 200,000, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, announced the state of emergency on Saturday after declaring a measles epidemic late in October, when the first deaths were reported.
Continue reading...The beautiful Polynesian island is home to a fiercely traditional society rife with domestic violence
Blood on the walls. Bruises like smashed plums. As long as Sefina* can remember, family violence has been part of her life. She watched her mother routinely attacked by her stepfather. “Sorry,” her mother would whisper afterwards to the children.
Then, Sefina’s elder sister was nearly killed by a group of male relatives for breaking the curfew. “Sorry,” her sister told her as she later left the island for good.
Continue reading...Activists accuse censors of ‘selective morality’ in nation where transgender women are widely accepted
The banning of Rocketman, a biographic film about the life of musician Elton John, in Samoa has prompted criticism by human rights activists of “selective morality” in a country where transgender women are widely accepted.
The public found out about the ban through the cancellation of a screening by the only theatre in the country, Apollo Cinemas Samoa, on Monday.
Continue reading...Pacific nation’s censor says homosexual activity depicted on screen violates its laws
The Pacific nation of Samoa has banned the Elton John biopic Rocketman because of its depictions of homosexuality.
About 97% of people in Samoa identify as Christian, and the society is generally considered conservative and traditional. Under Samoa’s 2013 Crimes Act, sodomy is deemed an offence punishable by up to seven years in prison, even if both parties consent.
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